1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a device for introducing gas into a liquid phase, and more particularly to a bubble column reactor having radial gas dispersing device vertically positioned in it. The radial dispersing devices are capable of improving the reactor performance in various reactions, particularly biological reactions involving gas and liquid phases or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, bubble column reactors are widely used in various industrial fields, such as petrochemical and bioprocess industries, and etc., as they efficiently provide advantages of relatively simple construction, relatively high mass and heat transfer rates, and a relatively cheap operational cost in comparison with other known types of reactors, for example, stirred tank reactors. Conventional bubble column reactors generally have a gas dispersing device comprising a porous plate, an orifice, a sintered plate, or the like, thereby allowing the gas to be vertically injected upward from the dispersing device and to be mixed with the liquid phase inside the bubble column.
However, conventional bubble column reactors have a disadvantage that the reactor performance decreases sharply with increasing gas velocity due to the formation of large gas bubbles. In addition, when viscosity of the liquid phase in the reactor is relatively high, the increases in bubble size causes a significant reduction in the interfacial area between the gas phase and the liquid phase, thereby resulting in a decreased mass transfer rate. Therefore, it has been required to develop a bubble column of improved performance in which the above disadvantages can be overcome.